This is one of the profiles of a metal roofline. It sort of kicks up a wee bit to slide down from the ridgebeam.

That's what I'd like for the front new front stoop, since that side of the house is straight except for the stoop, and the rafter tails are all exposed.

This is what I was thinking for the back roofline (facing east). It will be no open porch here, but the heavy posts will have windows between them mostly. The near end will be the bumpout (again) for the master bedroom, a seating area, and so that roofline might work across the back.

This is what I mean by relating the house to its environment, to its lot, because the back yard is my private garden space. A secret garden, with 7 foot tall privacy fencing all around it.

This roofline is for a porch added to a gable end. I think it might work if no need to share the attic space. Sort of a cute story-book look to it, not sure it will be as strong and four square as my DH likes. He wants heavy duty look.

This house, on the other hand, is very sturdy looking. But the right end of the roof, where the gable vent is left bare and the roofline is filled in beneath it, that is what I'm liking.

Then too, that eyebrow over the garage is sort of what I mean for the new stoop, with its length taken all the way to the front. Nothing complicated. Maybe have a row of clerestory panes up high to unite the old stoop area with the pushed out window, if at all possible. I'm a fan of high up windows. Unless it makes the entry too busy.

Where the existing front door WAS, I'd put in a long glass panel surrounded by beadboard, not stucco. The ceiling of the stoop is beadboard already, so using it coming down that wall (where the old door was) would feel natural.

Wow, you really have given this a lot of thought. I like the first two photos you posted. They look like they would shed rain efficiently and be strong enough to stand up to a hurricane.

So if no new insurance can be written in your area, what happens when you sell your house, or when SF jacks up the price?

Thanks, Marti. Those two are my favs too.
Insurance is a problem down below I-10. It makes it hard for folks to sell their homes, even if the housing market was better in the rest of the city. The state has a "self-insured" fund of folks who pay them their money into a common pool, I think that is how it works, then when a claim is filed, it is pulled from the money every home owner contributed. Not sure I understand that.

But, we bought our house and got insurance the month before all these changes came about, and so we have insurance. It is quite a lot of money each year, plus the much cheaper federal flood insurance which I'll NEVER be without regardless of where I live. And there are higher % deductible before a claim is processed, but it is better than a total wipeout.

When our house was destroyed by Katrina, the HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE (with Farmers Group) paid about $1,000. It was the FLOOD INSURANCE which paid for the house that was totally destroyed. AND for the contents.

RISING water is paid by the flood insurance. FALLING water (from the sky) is paid by homeowners. I have yet to figure out how they deal with WIND DRIVEN WATER. We also added in the sewer backup rider to our insurance, after seeing what happened during Katrina. Insurability thus figures into my home designs too. I put in an extra very accessible sewer line cutoff between the house and the street, if we have to evacuate because of pending floods. At least we won't be wading in backed up sewage when we return home. If your house is up high, that is not an issue, but if you are low, on a slab, or the street is higher than your lot, either install the easily accessible shut off, or get the sewage backup rider on your homeowner insurance. Believe me, you do NOT want to walk through sewage in your home!

Here is my post earlier this week on MoccasinLanding's Hardwood Floors thread, with edits:

Remember DH's declaration that we won't do any more major projects for the next three years following last year's 5 month and $30,000 foundation disaster? Well, we barely made it a year. The roof is really really really bad, the guys who cleaned my gutters said. We are looking at tearing off the 34 yo shingles, replacing some decking, doubling the amount of soffit vents and adding roof vents. We also may be removing all the decking from the area above the family room in order to insulate above the raised ceiling (it is sooo hot in there in the summer!). Fun fun fun.

Last year's foundation disaster almost resulted in us pouring a "porch" foundation the same height as the foyer/laundry room for another 15 ft out from the front door so that when we re-roofed, we could extend the roof out over the porch to the end of the front room, which is DH's library and music room. Doing that, we could add a peak above the foyer and laundry room to change the path of the roof drainage. Then we just need to have Jim move the front wall out and drywall the new side walls and we would get a front closet and a laundry room big enough to work in. Didn't do it. (When I say "almost resulted in," it means that Jim (my contractor) and I were contemplating. DH was never on board.)

Kick kick kick.

Instead, we will continue to have a flat area on the roof above the foyer and laundry room and just hope that improved ventilation stops the snow from melting or sliding down the roof and icing up my porch and ramp. Stupid house designer must have been from the South. Who makes a roof designed to dump rain and snow in three different directions onto the FRONT PORCH in a cold climate! If we had extended out the front slab, we would now be adding a roof peak where the flat area is and the roof would drain to the sides. And I would have a laundry room big enough to fold in, and a front closet. We do have a coat closet in the middle of the house. It could be a utility closet now instead, if we had poured that slab out further last year......... My shins hurt.

Friday, December 14
Yesterday I signed a contract to redo the roof. Today I stopped by their office to drop off a check for the first half of the payment. I talked with the manager and we discussed the venting further and the possibility of putting insulation above the cathedral ceiling in the family room. There was no way to get up there to insulate when we had the attic insulated because there was not enough room between the ceiling and the roof. So he will pull up some roof decking to check out the condition of the insulation there before re-roofing. He says that if we do need to insulate the room from above, he will do his best to make it fold into the cost of the roof job as much as possible, maybe just paying for the extra materials and a bit more.

So that is the not-so-exciting news, we are getting a new roof. The picture you see below is from 2007, before we put in our front door, raised porch deck and ramp. We no longer have any shutters and the front windows have been replaced by Eagle windows with bronze aluminum cladding. The picture in the link has the new garden bed, door, and porch in it, but not the new windows.

Here is a link that might be useful: A view of the front of the house with flat roof area

I also like the first 2 the best. Having lived south of I-10 for many years I appreciate having covered porches or decks to keep the hot sun out, along with lots of windows to let the reflected light in, which both have. I also like their crisp lines.

We lived in a tract house for over 25 years. When we first moved in the large back windows were not sheltered from the sun and within 2 years the vinyl flooring was sun burnt. We added a covered deck and filled the small back yard with native plants and old garden roses, which attracted many birds and butterflies. I still miss my 'view'. One year I watched the cardinal family as the parents worked very hard to help the fledgling move from the nest. It takes a lot of perseverance to be a cardinal parent! A good memory.

Thank you, Orcasgramma! We both have lived "south of I-10" and it is really a different world. I'm pleased to read your comments, you and I are on the same frequency! Love the birds and butterflies, and especially the cardinals. I will one day decorate a Christmas tree with nothing but cardinals. I had a nest of them outside my study window in 2011, in a big camellia bush. I saw the papa bringing food, never saw the mama. And then the last day, he sat on the fence post and called to them to come to him. They were charming babies.

Here is a picture I took this week of cardinals in my leafless Japanese maple, used by the birds as a waiting room for the busy feeder nearby.

Beautiful pic, ML! When I lived in Baton Rouge, I loved having the birds from "back home" stopping by on their yearly commute or even stay for the winter. We had a huge Holly tree. The Cedar Waxwings would stop by on their migration and strip it clean in a few days. They would eat so much they could not fly, or hit my windows when they scattered when a hawk flew overhead.

My neighbor in my last house used to tell me about her husband, who died a year or two before I moved in. He always loved Cardinals. Every time she saw a cardinal, this widow knew it was her husband, looking in on her.

That is a sweet story, Nancy.

To keep this "roofing" on track, I'll mention that I need to roof one of my bird feeders. Several of them are trays on the iron tables holding umbrellas which I leave open for protection. But this one, it is sort of near the bushes and the timid birds and squirrels come there to eat. That is where the Japanese maple provides some shelter and waiting space. It is also visible out my kitchen window.

But here is another shot of the feeder itself. That squirrel is a descendent of Bob, the original no-tail squirrel that came here for several years. I think it was not an accident that cost the tail, but a deformity. I also now believe Bob was a girl, else a female would not choose him as a mate because he could not keep her warm or whatever it is that squirrels look for in a mate. But in the years since then, I've noticed several squirrels with strange tails or strange colors, even with spots on them, so I think it was some mutant genes at work. But now, this little guy comes for his second year here, and he had a slightly longer tail at one point, but he could not lift it up to curl around him. Whatever is wrong, it has gotten shorter. Plus I notice when he moves there is some deformity of the hips or back legs, and Bob Junior is one I watch out for. S/he is very wary and is pretty much a loner. This was a picture from the latest series I caught while at the feeder.

I need to figure how to put a roof on it, right?

Moccasinlanding,

Wonderful pictures of cardinals and Bob junior, and your memories of the cardinal nest outside your window - thank you for sharing them.

Nancy your story of the widow reminded me of a neighbor who knew her deceased husband was near when the monarch butterflies were in the yard.

I am looking forward to seeing all 3 roofing plans evolve (your respective homes and the feeder).

Grrr... I just agreed to answer their darned survey, and in doing so, lost the post I had just typed.

Anyway, I was saying that the weather here is not cooperating with our roofing job. Today and tomorrow are okay, but the crews are on another job. Wednesday is good, but we need a little more than one day for our job, since there is so much work in the soffits and we are possibly removing roof decking to insulate above the cathedral ceiling in the family room. Thursday and Friday have a 70% chance of rain, so Wednesday is out. Sunday's weather looks good, but the crew does not work on Sundays or on Christmas Eve, so the job is put off until after Christmas. On Friday, Tim, from the roofing company, will call and we will discuss the weather for after Christmas.

Here is a picture of the shingle we are using. It is Landmark by Certainteed. It is not a high definition shingle, but is an entry-level dimensional shingle in the color Burnt Sienna. I am hoping that it will be just a little darker and just a little redder than the roof we currently have. That is what the salesman says it will look like. With our Cranberry door and redwood colored porch, we did not want to go with plain brown.

It is going to be gorgeous!
I have somewhere a picture of the architectural shingles that DH put on his house up north. It took forever to get it installed, and the chimney rebuild is still not done....they need 48 hours of fairly warm weather and DRY. Right now it is snowing and somewhat raining, so it might be spring before that gets done.

One part of his house, the sun porch, had a pretty flat roof on it, so they put some sort of epoxy finish on there, which is white instead of shingles. And, it takes 48 hours to dry.